In 1930s New York, a single man ruled the entire city with extortion, racketeering, and a healthy dose of murder. Nobody could take him down—until a black girl from Atlanta decided to try her hand at it. It was the match of the century: the lawyer, Eunice Hunton Carter vs. the mobster, Lucky Luciano. Only one of them would walk out of that courtroom unscathed.

Once upon a time, in 1930s Texas, a girl named Blanche fell desperately in love with a boy named Buck. She thought they had a shot at a good life together, but everything went off the rails one night when Buck’s brother and his brother’s girlfriend—Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker—showed up drunk at their door. Before long, Blanche was swept up in the on-the-run world of Bonnie and Clyde, terrified that their outlaw lifestyle would take her love away from her.

In 1960s Melbourne, a lot of very wealthy people found themselves wondering if there was more to life, and wouldn’t you know, a gorgeous yoga teacher was there to tell them: yes, yes there is. But this yoga teacher with her warm, appealing aphorisms would soon become a voracious cult leader with a penchant for pretending like she was the best mama in the world. This is the story of Anne Hamilton-Byrne, a woman who wanted to be an actress and a mother, but ended up playing God on a purple throne, ruining the life of every child she touched.

This episode features interviews with Chris Johnston and Rosie Jones, authors of The Family.

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At the end of the 1970s, body after dead body began appearing on the streets and sidewalks and parking lots of Miami. Many of those bodies were linked to the Colombian cocaine trade, which was in turn linked to one incredibly powerful woman with a love of gangster movies and a penchant for drive-by shootings. Meet Griselda Blanco: the Black Widow, La Madrina, the Godmother of Cocaine.

At eight years old, Lois Gibson begged God to give her a job where she could draw faces. As a young woman, a man with an evil face burst through her door, leaving her broken, despairing, and consumed with the desire for justice.

At thirty-nine, she became a full-time forensic artist. At sixty-six, she made the Guinness Book of World Records. This is the story of Lois Gibson, the world’s most successful forensic artist.

Sources:

Faces of Evil: Kidnappers, Murderers, Rapists, and the Forensic Artist Who Puts Them Behind Bars, by Lois Gibson and Deanie Francis Mills

Interview with Lois Gibson, 1/9/2019

“Most criminals positively identified due to the composites of one artist,” guinnessworldrecords.com

Beneath the soft green grass of the Last Supper cemetery, most regular, God-fearing residents of Mobile, Alabama had one family member resting. Maybe two. Rhonda Belle Martin had eight.

This is the story of a woman who the tabloids labeled a “redheaded hellcat,” whose urge to kill swept over her one day when her little daughter asked for a drink of water, and who was never able to explain why she gave her poisoned milk, instead.

“Gymnopédue no. 3” by Erik Satie, via musopen.org. (Musopen requires all users who upload music to the site to represent that the uploaded musical composition and/or the sound recording is in the public domain.)

Falicia Blakely was only 16 when she met the man who would change the course of her life. At first, Mike Berry was the perfect boyfriend—bringing her flowers, treating her little boy as his own son. But then came the brainwashing, the manipulation, and the fire. Before long, Falicia would find herself holding a phone and a pistol, with Mike on the other end of the call, urging her to shoot.

Sources:

Interview with Falicia Blakely (11/26/18)

“Learning to Hit a Lick” parts 1 and 11, by Mara Shaloup, Creative Loafing, March 2004

While many remember the 1978 Jonestown massacre as a dark monument to the power of a single man’s paranoia and fanaticism, the tale of Jim Jones’ lover, Carolyn Layton, reveals a more complicated narrative—and a more frightening truth. Carolyn was a bubbly young woman who believed in pacifism and political engagement, but when she met Jim Jones, she became an unsmiling woman would do anything for Jones’ cause—including death. Was this a personality change, or had Carolyn been a secret fanatic all along? Author Laura Elizabeth Woollett comes on the podcast to tell us Carolyn’s long-forgotten story, which she covers in her latest novel, Beautiful Revolutionary.

Do female vampires exist? Are they bloodier than their male counterparts? And if the answer to those first two questions is yes: should we race to the grocery store RIGHT NOW to stock up on garlic?! Join me as we travel through the long, dark, decomposition-ridden history of female vampires, from ancient Assyrian myths to New England vampire panics to Hungarian countesses with bad reputations. We’ll talk about lady vamps in legend, in pop culture, and—eek!—in real life. Happy Halloween!

Sources:

“The Blood Countess: Erzsébet Báthory,” from Lady Killers by Tori Telfer Dracula Was a Woman: In Search of the Blood Countess of Transylvania, by Raymond T. McNallyFood for the Dead: On the Trail of New England’s Vampires by Michael Bell“The Great New England Vampire Panic,” Smithsonian, October 2012 “Grave of Mercy Brown,” Atlas Obscura“Not All Fangs Are Phallic: Female Film Vampires,” by James Craig Holte, Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, Vol. 10, No. 2 “Vampire ASMR Roleplay: Meeting the Countess” by Stephanie Swan Quills“2 Guilty in ‘Lesbian Vampire Trial,’” The Ottowa Citizen, 16 Feb 1991“Woman wondered if lover was a vampire, court told,” The Age, 7 Feb 1991 “Blood-drinking devil worshipers face life for ritual Satanic killing,” The Guardian, 1 Feb 2002“German killing shines light on Satanism,” Calgary Herald, 20 Jan 2002“Flirting with Hitler,” The Guardian, 16 Nov 2002“2 middle school girls waited in a bathroom and planned to cut up their classmates, police say,” CNN, 26 Oct 2018

If you were looking for vice, Sydney in the 1920s-1940s was the place to be. Duck into the back alleys of Surry Hills and Woolloomooloo and you’d find all the cocaine, “sly grog” (booze!), brawling, and brothels your dark little heart desired, all of it presided over by not one but two larger-than-life crime queens: Tilly Devine and Kate Leigh. The women’s’ rivalry was bloody, colorful, absurd, and stretched on for decades. They raged at each other in the press and in the streets; they insulted each other’s dogs (GASP!); they tried to outdo each other with glamorous photoshoots. Polish your diamonds and hike up your garters, listeners, because we’re diving into their story.

Sources:

Razor by Larry Writer

Lillian Armfield: How Australia’s First Female Detective Took on Tilly Devine and the Razor Gangs and Changed the Face of the Force, by Leigh Straw

“Bad Beef,” Western Mail, 4 April 1929

“Gang War,” The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 Dec 1929

“Notorious Underworld Figure Does Not Fear for Life,” Truth, 13 April 1930

“Says Tilly to Kate,” Truth, 29 Jun 1930

“K-K-Katey…You’re the Only ‘Girl’ That I Abhor!” Truth, 7 Feb 1932

“Underworld Queen Is an Interesting Contrast,” Arrow, 7 Oct 1932

“Two Bragging Crooks Live on Fat of the Land,” Truth, 27 Aug 1933

“Tilly Devine in Brawl,” The Newcastle Sun, 20 Sept 1943

“Practical Jokes On Tilly Devine,” Morning Bulletin, 16 Jun 1945

“Wedded Bliss—Or a Razor,” The Sun, 22 Jan 1950

“Study in Scarlet: An Uncrowned Queen of Slumland Drips with Diamonds and Charity,” People (Sydney), 15 March 1950

How much abuse can a woman endure before she breaks? That seemed to be the unconscious and horrible goal driving the wealthy men who abused Phoolan Devi time and again, and sent her to prison, and tried to deny her water, and tried to shame her into submission. It was as though they were mad scientists, experimenting on the human spirit. But their experiment failed when Phoolan, still a teenager, got swept up into the wild world of Northern Indian bandits, called dacoits, where she learned the fine and vicious art of vengeance. Come along for a surreal story of abuse and revenge, one that starts in poverty and ends in power.

Sources:

I, Phoolan Devi, by Phoolan Devi

India’s Bandit Queen, by Mala Sen

“India’s Bandit Queen,” November 1996 issue of The Atlantic

“The Great Indian Rape-Trick,” Arundhati Roy

“Phoolan Devi Shot Dead,” The Times of India, July 25, 2001

“Killer of Phoolan Devi, India's 'Bandit Queen', given life sentence,” The Guardian, August 14, 2014

We all know the story: Lizzie Borden may or may not have taken an ax (okay, a hatchet) and given her mother (okay, stepmother) forty whacks (okay, nineteen). We know for sure that there were two deaths, and a lot of blood. But something sprung to life the day of those brutal double murders: the Lizzie Borden industry.

For the very special tenth episode of Criminal Broads, let’s dive into the wild and endlessly enduring legend of alleged ax murderess Lizzie Borden, tackling her not as a killer, but as a cultural touchstone. We’ll cover the crimes themselves, but also the myths, misinformation, and weird products that have sprung up around the Lizzie Borden biz. Today, you can buy a pair of Lizzie Borden earrings, watch a Lizzie Borden rock opera, see a couple of Lizzie Borden-themed horror movies, go to a Lizzie Borden ballet, buy a Lizzie Borden Candle, drink a Lizzie Borden Cocktail, and stay at the Lizzie Borden B&B—but the one thing you can never, ever do is know exactly what Lizzie Borden was thinking on August 4, 1892.

As the 19th century loomed, China experienced a huge boom in piracy—and the largest, most terrifyingly organized fleet that menaced the South China Sea was led by…a woman. Madame Cheng (remembered as Cheng I Sao or Ching Shih) had a meteoric rise from impoverished sex worker to climb to arguably the most successful and influential pirate of all time. Should we cheer her on—or remember her as a criminal?

In 1958, Nebraska was terrified by a spree killing so brutal, so atrocious that it seemed impossible to believe it was pulled off by...teenagers. When Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate were apprehended, she ran screaming to the cops, telling them he was going to kill her. He told them she was a killer, too.

Bestselling true crime author Harold Schechter comes on the podcast to tell us the story of Belle Gunness, a Norwegian-American serial dater who had a thing for butcher’s tools. Or perhaps you know her as the author of the best dating profile line ever: “Triflers need not apply.” Belle’s story is covered at length in Schechter’s new book, Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men. Also discussed: why female psychopaths are more psychopathic than people give them credit for; how male serial killers are “undiscriminating”; why poisoners are worse than Jack the Ripper; and the old “meat grinder falls on head” trick.

In 1998, Beatrice Munyenyezi came from Rwanda to New Hampshire, claiming that she needed sanctuary from the horrific genocide that had recently happened in her home country. On her immigration forms, she swore that she’d had nothing to do with the violence. She was a mother, after all! But when an agent from the Department of Homeland Security began looking into her past, he couldn’t believe the brutal stories that emerged.

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Bestselling true crime author M. William Phelps comes onto the podcast to tell us the story of Amy Archer Gilligan, a turn-of-the-century serial killer who disguised her sociopathic tendencies under a kind, neighborly facade. Her lemonade was laced with arsenic, and her convalescent home was not a place where anyone could get better. Phelps’ book on Amy is called The Devil’s Rooming House. Also discussed: hot tub horrors, female criminals’ skyrocketing brutality (eek), and an amazing undercover lady cop named Zola.

Jasmuheen, an Australian guru who became media catnip in the 90s, seemed kind of spacey and silly. Sure, her belief system was totally wild—she told the world that she lived off energy alone, and hadn’t eaten actual food in years—but her teachings didn’t seem all that serious. After all, her fridge was stocked with food, and her website was covered in purple fonts, and no one really believed her, right?

The Gonzalez Valenzuela sisters did not have an easy childhood, but when they grew up, they proceeded to steadily destroy the childhoods of other young women. When their “horror ranch” was discovered, the people of Mexico were appalled at the secrets that began to emerge.

Kate Bender knew how to get along with people. She could converse, dance, ride horses, flirt, and generally blend into society like a pro. So when society found out that she and her creepy family been serially killing travelers all along, they wanted to punish her for it.